2022 Maine Small Business Awards

Last week, the CEI Women’s Business Center was honored to host the 2022 Maine Small Business Awards, we were especially proud to support the numerous winners who are current or former CEI Clients or Borrowers.

CEI Women’s Business Center Launches Portland Office to Serve Southern Maine’s Diverse Female Entrepreneurs

Caption: Sarah Guerette, Director, CEI Women’s Business Centers; Diane Sturgeon, District Director for the Maine District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration; Betsy Biemann, CEO, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI); Grace Mo-Phillips, Program Director, CEI Women’s Business Center South celebrate the grand opening of the CEI Women’s Business Center South at CEI’s office at the Marine Trade Center in Portland, Maine. March 15, 2022 (Portland, ME) – The CEI Women’s Business Center (WBC) announces the grand opening of the CEI Women’s Business Center South (CEI WBC South), CEI’s third center focused on female and femme/feminine-identifying entrepreneurs* who want to start or grow their own business in Maine.

Good Jobs as a Stepping Stone to an Equitable Economic Future

The CEI Good Jobs Framework The pandemic jolted the U.S. economy, which today is 5.7 million jobs smaller in size than at its peak in February 2020. Employers are recruiting and retaining workers in a changed landscape, where in addition to the virus, the quality of jobs is driving decisions to stay at or return to a place of employment.